Date of Award

Spring 2018

Degree Type

Capstone - Open Access

First Advisor

Susan Marine

Abstract

Peer tutoring at colleges and universities has become an essential resource in helping to enhance undergraduate students’ academic performance and persistence (Arco-Tirado, Fernández-Martin, & Fernández-Balboa, 2011), institutional retention rates (Grillo & Leist, 2013), and the academic abilities of students with learning disabilities (Troiano, Liefeld, & Trachtenberg, 2010). The Tutoring Center at Merrimack College, designed for this project, will house all peer tutors specializing in a variety of subjects, including, but not limited to: business, engineering, foreign languages, computer science, biology, and chemistry. According to Vygtosky’s (1978) learning theory, students learn most effectively and more thoroughly when working with more knowledgeable and skillful peers (Vygotsky, 1978). Therefore, to increase access to tutors, the tutors will be available through the Learning Labs, which allow students to work with a peer tutor on a drop-in basis, and they will also have appointment hours available to meet with students who seek more individualized support. This project seeks to centralize all tutors in one location and to provide greater academic services by employing tutors with more versatile academic specialties. By doing so, the tutors will become more accessible to a larger population of undergraduate students, and the academic support efforts of Merrimack College will become streamlined.

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